 |
| Image from "Disruptive Innovation in Practice" a review by Mark Bauerlein |
I completely meant to blog as I read Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools, but I got so consumed with reading and talking about the book with my colleagues, that I finished the book instead of digesting it in portions.
Truly, this is one of the better books out there about initiating big changes in your building.
The book's focus is on creating school-wide or district-wide change, but teachers can take the process and scale it to their own classrooms. Teachers should also remember that no appreciable change happens overnight, and while moving toward a blended classroom can be lots of work on the front end, the time saved and the impact on student achievement makes the change worth the work in the long run.
The trick is to help teachers implement blended learning in baby steps, so they are not overwhelmed and they can experience success.
Baby Step 1: Pinpoint a Problem
As Horn and Staker point out, disruptive innovations only survive to become mainstream if they are actually filling a need. So for teachers, simply blending without careful consideration of how or when or why will only cause chaos and confusion for students. Teachers first need to pinpoint the problem that a blended lesson or unit can solve.I think the best way to do this is to figure out what concept your students struggle with most year to year. This should be the first bit of content you work to blend.
Baby Step 2: Know Your Resources
Schools and districts who decide as a whole to go with blended learning also decide upon a specific set of digital resources, either online or software-based. Teachers choosing on their own to adopt blended learning can be overwhelmed with a bevy of resources. How do you evaluate the many resources available and choose the right ones for your students? Before teachers can move on with planning their blended lessons, they must explore and pick the right resources.
Baby Step 3: Over-plan
Effectively blending your lessons or units involves an incredible amount of planning, because you have to create several opportunities for learning and review and develop effective ways to monitor student achievement and progress. I would suggest to teachers that they not begin blending until they've had time to get to know their students a little, so they can better predict where they might struggle or need extra enrichment.
Baby Step 4: Reflect and Rebuild
You know what happens to even the best laid plans. So whether your lessons are successful or not, it's always best to look back and see where you have room to improve and then take steps to rebuild with different resources. Seek feedback from your students on this; look at your assessment results; talk to other teachers; sit down with your tech facilitator. When concentrating on the blended aspect of your class, consider your workflow as well.
Keep Calm and Blend On!
Just remember that the first time you try to work blended learning into your classroom, there will be problems. You can't avoid hitches the first time you try something new. But if you keep these baby steps in mind and scale down to implementing blended learning to just a few lessons or units, you'll see success.
Happy blending!
